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This padlet is about how the Mayan civilization developed in present day southern Mexico and a lot of central America.

The Mayan were creating an advanced civilization in the Americas and reached there peck between 300 to 900 C.E. During this time Mayan culture was spreading through Mesoamerica, including parts Mexico, Belize, most of Guatemala, and of the Honduras and El Salvador.

The land the mayan lived on was varied greatly. The Mayans built there their civilization on an idea of people called the Olmec, they lived east of Mexico. Mayan civilization began to arise in eastern and southern Mexico around 200 B.C.E. Historians divide the history of the Myan into 3 periods, Pre-Classic, Classic, and post-Classic.

The pre-Classic period lasted about 2000 B.C.E to 300 C.E. During this period the mayan farmed the and lived in houses and compounds, or groups of building. Then mayan culture became more complex. The Mayan population grow so settlement became larger. the Mayan began constructing public building for government and religious purposes. About 50 B.C.E  began a writing system of the Olmec and made there own system of hieroglyphic writing.

Mayan civilization reached its peak during the classic period, form around 300 to 900 C.E. During this time the Maya adapted and made ideas they had learned from what they have learned from the Olmec ,like they improved on Olmec building techniques. Even though the Mayan lacked metal tools and had not discovered the Wheel, but still built hug stone cities and a really decorated temple-pyramid and palaces. Mayan also built observatories for studying the heavens. They charted the movement of they moon, stars, and planets. They used there knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to create complex and highly accurate calendars. Mayan society during the classic period consisted of many independent states. Each states had farming communities and one or more cities. So at its height, the Mayan Empire included over 40 cities.Around 900 C.E, the Classic civilization collapsed. The Mayan abandoned their cities in the south lowland, so the great cities fell into ruin in the jungle. No one knows for sere why this happened.

During that time the north, Mayan cities continued to prosper during the Post- classic period . This period lasted from about 900 C.E to 1500 C.E. During this time, the Mayan continued their warfare and empire building, but they had less great artistic and cultural achievements. Even at the height of their empire, the Mayan were not one unified nation. Instead they lived in many city-states with separate government.

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Mayans used their knowledge of seasonal change as an advantage for farming. Corn was the primary Mayan food. One challenge the Mayans faced was not having enough food for their growing population. The Maya land had dense forests, little water, and poor soil.

They built terraces on mountain hills for flat land to farm on. They formed raised-earth platforms in swampy lowlands near canals so that extra water was drained. This helped them grow food without using to much land. A different technique was slash and burn agriculture. They first cleared land by burning and cutting trees and plants. After that, they planted their crops. This type of farming also wore out soil.

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The Mayans believed gods made the word and will destroy it after. There are other gods destroy crop. When they destroy things it would make it important to the gods.
They also believed that there was more then 160 gods out there. The Mayans had to sacrifice from the priests.

Only priests had to sacrifice. Apparently it would aim them to be a god. The things they would do is read scarce book,read the future and blood offering. Most of the mayans god sacrifce, no, all of them do.

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Mayans had a way of defining, who was most powerful and who was less powerful, they called it the social pyramid. The first person on top was the Ruler, the Ruler is on top because, they contemplated him as a god-king. The people underneath the Ruler were, Nobles and Priests, they were the only ones who knew how to write and read, which made them powerful. Underneath the Nobles and Priests were Merchants and Artisans, Merchants were the people who imported goods and other needed objects, on the other hand Artisans, created the objects like painted books or murals, and other hand-made objects.

Underneath the Merchants and Artisans were Peasants, Peasants grew crops, such as maize, squash, beans, and other crops that fed their community. Underneath the Peasants, which was the least powerful were slaves. Slaves worked for their owner, but some would be set free. These are all the people who are apart of the social pyramid.

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